I Have Been to Every High End Japanese Restaurant in the SF Bay Area (Review/Ranking) – December / Q1 2026 Update

by NoodleThings

3 Comments

  1. Where does the time go, it’s a bit too late for this to be wholly relevant to Valentines Day (granted plenty of availability at certain places) but I figured I may as well put it out since there’s been a few new openings and some movement too

    Review is available [in this Google Doc here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jHAZAxL2vURZOt4JCVbC1HlXx-58fVBLGAeqeu71-aE/edit?usp=drivesdk)

    The review is currently updated for all higher end / chef driven Japanese focused restaurants in the SF Bay Area including new openings since the last version like the new An, Sushi Kinsen, Hibari, Kappo (lol) and Kodowari. I’ve also revisited a few places since the last review and those restaurants have been moved as well. If you notice any notable omissions, let me know n I’ll go there and update the doc.

    I’ve also added Last Visit dates and a Linked Headers for quick viewing as requested in previous versions. If anyone knows how to set up a blog thing let me know – I genuinely don’t know how that stuff works lmao

    One notable omission is Fu Hui Hua, I have left that off because they are going for a more Chinese experience even if there are things borrowed from their time in Japan. If I were to put it on this list, it would be at the top – I think it is the best restaurant here right now

  2. Its funny that most of your tier1 are pretty critical. One is closed, one you didnt like the apprentices, one is “decent”.

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